Back in early 2009, Cleveland City Council passed what’s popularly known as its “chicken and bees”
ordinance, which had the effect of:
1) allowing countless clandestine beekeepers and poultry owners to finally emerge from their shadow of shame, and …
2) making us look way more serious about urban farming than everybody else in America.
At the time, some on council also wanted to see livestock freed up to roam the city landscape, though that proposal went nowhere. But three years and several hundred demolished homes later, the plan might get off the ground if Joe Cimperman has his way.
“We’ve got in front of council now an ‘urban agriculture overlay zone,’” says the downtown councilman, using the sphincterese term for allowing livestock on any plot of land that consists of at least five acres.
“I am so sick and tired of the foreclosure story. The land is there, so what are we going to do with it?”
We’re going to render it back to the 18th century, evidently. The legislation has yet to come up for a hearing, so no word on how councilmembers and residents who were concerned about the noise and smell of chickens will react to a chorus of neighing and bleating. The influx of dung is not expected to cause problems, however, given the region’s fabled history of tolerating manure.
“Our policy is way ahead of most cities’ because the people in Cleveland who are doing this stuff are ahead of the policy,” says Cimperman. “Everything is driven by people who are doing the farming telling us what needs to be done.” And history confirms that all the best stuff that happened here went down when farmers ran the place.
This article appears in Mar 7-13, 2012.
Compost the manure the sell it to urban farmers dirt cheap…
Yup…I said that….
In other news Councilman Cimperman wants to stabilize the City by giving everyone a free horse.
To think that the land will restore its primary function as a producer of food is an exciting idea for city’s now worthless realestate surplus. It seems that large areas of cities being farmed in a pofessional manner would help the area with depression and attitude. I guess the most expensive part is the demolition and excavation required. Does the salvage of the old structures have any value? It is really a good purpose to grow this concept. I am happy Cleveland is a leading player in this other side of A Brave New World…
The beautiful, luscious land of Ohio is very fertile; a milk cow does not need 5 acres on such rich, pleasantly watered land….
Think twice about demolishing any “old structures.” Such solid construction cannot be replaced. Modern construction reeks of planned obsolescence–(someone makes money by building cheap fast, then again by replacing it after its short life-cycle….)
Cleveland’s visual charm is in its architecture from a more elegant era. Destroying this heritage in the name of “urban agriculture” could turn into another real estate speculator/developer’s ploy. Farms near people is an obviously good and normal idea–the norm in Germany—but please be careful on the implementation here in the land of block-busters and red-liners….
The grey skies give abundant water for farming. Lack of sunlight also gives low-level clinical depression. Light therapy is a clinically documented solution.
Mandating imitation sunlight in public places could help with “depression and attitude.” Free light therapy could also help attract urban farmers from sunnier places (lacking water) looking for someplace livable to farm.
In the name of public health and economic welfare: light therapy for all!